I am interested in building a cnc. I am mechanically inclined and have done mostly metalworking. I have never used a cnc. However, I need to do this cheaply.

I am wondering what a cnc can be used for? I mean, my interest are furnature making. Can one I make be used to joint wood, cut tennons, make signs etc? Rails and styles and the like? Can you tell me what type of machine I would need?

Also, I don’t know the G code language. Can I use a cheap program that will convert a picture I draw online into the G code to tell the machine what to do?

Like I said, I am really interested, but cost is a major factor right now.

I appreciate it!

On Tuesday, August 21, 2012 9:26:02 AM UTC-4, stryped wrote:
I am interested in building a cnc. I am mechanically inclined and have done mostly metalworking. I have never used a cnc. However, I need to do this cheaply.



I am wondering what a cnc can be used for? I mean, my interest are furnature making. Can one I make be used to joint wood, cut tennons, make signs etc? Rails and styles and the like? Can you tell me what type of machine I would need?



Also, I don’t know the G code language. Can I use a cheap program that will convert a picture I draw online into the G code to tell the machine what to do?



Like I said, I am really interested, but cost is a major factor right now..



I appreciate it!

Here's a good place to start:
http://buildyourcnc.com/cnckitintro.aspx

"stryped" wrote in message
...

I am interested in building a cnc. I am mechanically inclined and have done
mostly metalworking. I have never used a cnc. However, I need to do this
cheaply.

I am wondering what a cnc can be used for? I mean, my interest are furnature
making. Can one I make be used to joint wood, cut tennons, make signs etc?
Rails and styles and the like? Can you tell me what type of machine I would
need?

Also, I don’t know the G code language. Can I use a cheap program that will
convert a picture I draw online into the G code to tell the machine what to
do?

Like I said, I am really interested, but cost is a major factor right now.

I appreciate it!
=============================

cnczone.com
--
EA

The only problem is there are many versions of G-code and now C-code.
The big ones are into C due to very complicated math methods.

The language is very old. Variants abound and enhancements making them
special.

Martin

On 8/22/2012 8:33 PM, Existential Angst wrote:
"stryped" wrote in message
...

I am interested in building a cnc. I am mechanically inclined and have done
mostly metalworking. I have never used a cnc. However, I need to do this
cheaply.

I am wondering what a cnc can be used for? I mean, my interest are furnature
making. Can one I make be used to joint wood, cut tennons, make signs etc?
Rails and styles and the like? Can you tell me what type of machine I would
need?

Also, I don’t know the G code language. Can I use a cheap program that will
convert a picture I draw online into the G code to tell the machine what to
do?

Like I said, I am really interested, but cost is a major factor right now.

I appreciate it!
=============================

cnczone.com

On 2012-08-23, Martin Eastburn wrote:
The only problem is there are many versions of G-code and now C-code.
The big ones are into C due to very complicated math methods.

The language is very old. Variants abound and enhancements making them
special.

What is that C code? The old C programming language?


i

Martin

On 8/22/2012 8:33 PM, Existential Angst wrote:
"stryped" wrote in message
...

I am interested in building a cnc. I am mechanically inclined and have done
mostly metalworking. I have never used a cnc. However, I need to do this
cheaply.

I am wondering what a cnc can be used for? I mean, my interest are furnature
making. Can one I make be used to joint wood, cut tennons, make signs etc?
Rails and styles and the like? Can you tell me what type of machine I would
need?

Also, I don?t know the G code language. Can I use a cheap program that will
convert a picture I draw online into the G code to tell the machine what to
do?

Like I said, I am really interested, but cost is a major factor right now.

I appreciate it!
=============================

cnczone.com

On Tuesday, August 21, 2012 8:26:02 AM UTC-5, stryped wrote:
I am interested in building a cnc. I am mechanically inclined and have done mostly metalworking. I have never used a cnc. However, I need to do this cheaply.



I am wondering what a cnc can be used for? I mean, my interest are furnature making. Can one I make be used to joint wood, cut tennons, make signs etc? Rails and styles and the like? Can you tell me what type of machine I would need?

My understanding is "G" code is the instructions that tell the cnc router where to go and what to do.

Also, I don’t know the G code language. Can I use a cheap program that will convert a picture I draw online into the G code to tell the machine what to do?



Like I said, I am really interested, but cost is a major factor right now..



I appreciate it!

C code is not so much used for CNC, but for writing software that may be used in conjunction with CNC. G-Code is the language the vast majority of CNC's use. There are different dialects of g-code, but as a hobbyist, there are two main dialects--either Mach3 g-code or LinuxCNC g-code.

They're pretty similar.

To learn more about g-code, try my free g-code tutorial:

http://www.cnccookbook.com/CCCNCGCodeCourse.htm

It gives a very easy introduction to g-code so you can learn it in lots of little bite-sized articles.

There are lots of other articles on the same site for CNC'ers.

Cheers,

BW